I

turned to the abundant water power and found an outlet for their energies and a source of wealth in manufacturing. In the 2 central Atlantic states, where fertile farm lands were combined with good harbors, rivers, and water power, the activities of the people were more diversified and spread over the major occupations.

Geographical influences have been potent not only in our economic development, but in the political and military history of our nation; subsequent chapters, it is hoped, will help to point this out.

Variety of Present Resources.-Geographic influences are as powerful to-day as they have been in our past history. Furthermore, the present natural products of the country and the undeveloped resources will determine to a large extent our future in the political as well as the economic field. Let us examine briefly the natural products and resources of the United States.

In the variety of natural resources this country is rich beyond any European nation. Where most countries have two or three such assets, the United States leads the world in many. Her size and the variations of climate and physiographic factors endow her with a rich variety of natural products, animal, vegetable, and mineral. England, for example, has sufficient coal and iron for her needs, but must import grains, meats, leather, cotton, wool, silver, gold, and many other commodities essential to her industries and to the maintenance of life in her population. Italy and Norway have water power and foodstuffs, but must import iron and coal. France, although her resources and climate are varied, cannot supply her own needs in many essential products, such as petroleum, copper, and raw cotton.

The United States, on the other hand, with the exception of one or two minor minerals, rubber, and coffee, produces everything necessary for her own consumption and manufacture, and much to export. Food materials of all kinds she has in abundance, enough to support a much larger population than her own, as was shown during the World War and as could be increasingly demonstrated with more intensive methods of cultivation. The United States exports food to many parts of the world, and al

though she imports various foods, such as coffee, tea, sugar, spices, and tropical fruits, nevertheless her imports are rather luxuries than absolute necessities. This country could be blockaded for centuries without fatal suffering. We produce 60 per cent of the world's copper, 66 per cent of the world's oil, 75 per cent of the corn, 60 per cent of the cotton, 52 per cent of the coal, and 40 per cent of the iron and steel; yet we have only 6 per cent of the world's population and 7 per cent of the world's land.

Mineral Resources.-The annual value of the metallic products of the United States is in the neighborhood of two billions, and of nonmetallic over three and one-third billions. Of these, coal ranks first in value. The anthracite deposits of the United States, located chiefly in Pennsylvania, are by far the most important in the world in both quality and quantity. Geologists have estimated that in Pennsylvania there were originally about 19,500,000,000 tons, of which about 1,900,000,000 have been taken out, less than one-tenth. The value of the coal mined in 1919 in this country was about $1,535,000,000. The most important bituminous fields are in the Appalachian Mountains, extending from Alabama to Pennsylvania; the region second in importance is in the interior in the Mississippi Valley states, including the coal fields of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas; and North Dakota is underlined with lignite as yet unused. The aggregate coal areas of the United States approximate 500,000 square miles, or about 13 per cent of the area of the country. The fact that these beds are well distributed is significant, for the expense of transportation of this essential commodity to industrial and commercial development is a big item in its ultimate cost. It is also important that the richest deposits are within a few hours' haul of the great ports of New York and Philadelphia, and but a little farther from the manufacturing states of southern New England. If such had not been the case, the history of the northeastern United States after the Industrial Revolution might have been far different.1

1 To these fuel resources the future historian will add the present peat swamps as yet almost wholly neglected; of these there are seven million acres

Next to coal the most valuable nonmetallic mineral is petroleum. Though the first well was not opened until 1859 (producing 2,000 barrels the first year) the oil industry has grown until the output in 1920 amounted to 443,402,000 barrels, with a valuation of $1,360,000,000. Although oil was produced originally to satisfy lighting needs, its field of usefulness has been widened until by distillation and other processes such commercial products as kerosene, benzine, gasoline, naphtha, heavy and lubricating oils, paraffin, and asphalt are manufactured. With the continued extension of the manufacture of gasoline motors and oil-burning engines, the value of petroleum in industry is constantly increasing. The chief oil fields, covering some 8,450 square miles, are as follows: (1) Appalachian field, extending from New York through Pennsylvania, southeastern Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky into Tennessee; (2) the Lima-IndianaIllinois field, including northeastern Ohio, a strip through middle Indiana, and southeastern Illinois; (3) the midcontinent region, including western Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma; (4) the Gulf fields, comprising the coastal plains of Texas and Louisiana; and (5) the California field. In addition, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado have producing fields. About 60 per cent of the world's output comes from the United States. The original supply in this country was probably in the neighborhood of fourteen billion barrels, of which some five billion have now been used up.

The most valuable, most widely distributed, and cheapest of the metals in the United States is iron. It is found in practically every state, but the chief production districts can be grouped as follows: (1) Lake Superior district, including Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, producing, in 1919, 88.5 per cent of the whole; (2) the southern district, including Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas, producing 6.9 per cent; (3) the northern district, including New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, producing 4 per cent; and (4) the western district, including California,

in Minnesota alone. See E. K. Soper, The Peat Deposits of Minnesota, Bulletin 16, Minnesota Geological Survey (1919).

Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, supplying .6 per cent of the whole. The Lake Superior region not only contributes over four-fifths of the iron ore, but contains at least three-fourths of the available deposits. It is, moreover, of distinctly superior grade to that of the Appalachians and Rockies. The advantageous situation of Pittsburgh and Birmingham as regards both coal and iron gave them a start in the iron and steel industry, but the recent predominance of the Lake

Superior ores has created a tendency for the manufacturing center of the iron and steel industry to shift slowly to such Lake shore points as Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago, and Gary. The unmined ore resources of the country are estimated (in metric tons) at 9,855,000,000 capable of producing 5,154,000,000 tons of iron, while the aggregate of the world is estimated at 11,987,000,000 tons. Thus the known iron resources in the United States are nearly equal to those of all the rest of the world.

From primitive times copper has been, next to iron, the metal most essential in the industries. This metal is so ductile and easily worked that the ancients became exceedingly proficient in turning it to a variety of uses. Since the harnessing of electricity.

copper, because of its excellent properties as a conductor, has assumed a new importance. Improvements in extracting the metal, and the greater demands for it, have made possible the increase of the world's annual output from 9,000 tons in 1801 to over 1,000,000 to-day. Of this the United States contributes I about three-fourths. In 1920 the production of this country was

over 1,200,000,000 pounds, valued at over $222,500,000, a value ranking next to iron among the metals. Of this the three states of Montana, Arizona, and Michigan produced almost threefourths of the whole. The annual copper output of Arizona and Montana each exceeds that of any two foreign nations combined. The purest deposits are in the glacial districts of upper Michigan, but the greatest are in Arizona, which supplies one-third of the › American copper. The deposits in Montana, Nevada, and Utah have made possible the cities of Butte and Anaconda in Montana, Bingham in Utah, and the four Arizona towns of Bisbee, Morenci, Globe, and Jerome.

Lead is another metal in the production of which the United States leads, supplying about one-third of the world's total. Twenty-one states and Alaska produce lead, but the output of most of them is small. Missouri and Idaho together yield almost three-fourths of the lead, although Utah and Colorado produce appreciable amounts. Advancing civilization has increased the use of lead both in its pure form and in its numerous alloys, and, like most metals, its production was greatly stimulated by the World War. One-third of the lead goes into white lead for paint.

For the production of zinc, a comparatively new industry in this country (our first records of production are of 1873), the United States and Germany rank as the largest two sources of supply. The metal is used chiefly as an alloy of copper and tin, and in paints. Although twenty states mine zinc-bearing ores, two-fifths come from the region known as the Joplin, comprising southwestern Missouri, southeastern Kansas, and northeastern Oklahoma.

Before 1850 the gold mined in the territory now forming the United States was comparatively small. The discovery of